Video
released by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory on Monday showed a “fast
moving jet of particles produced by a rapidly rotating neutron star,”
but to some the image appear to more resemble the mask from Phantom of
the Opera or “God smoking a joint.”
In a description provided with the video,
NASA said that the Vela pulsar was formed after the collapse of another
massive star and it “may provide new insight into the nature of some of
the densest matter in the universe.”
“The Vela pulsar is about 1,000 light years from Earth, spansis about
12 miles in diameter, and makes over 11 complete rotations every
second, faster than a helicopter rotor,” according to the agency. “As
the pulsar whips around, it spews out a jet of charged particles that
race out along the pulsar’s rotation axis at about 70% of the speed of
light.”Universe Today’s Nancy Atkinson noted that the video
“has the unnerving appearance of the Phantom of the Opera – wearing not
only a mask, but also a steam-blowing hat like the Tin Man in ‘The
Wizard of Oz.’”
But Raw Story’s David Ferguson saw something more heavenly in the frames.